Watch Out for These 4 Common A/C Problems

The summer is here, which means hot weather and the need to cool off. Your home’s A/C will be working overtime the entire season. If it breaks down, you might not want to have to wait for an A/C professional to arrive. You can troubleshoot some air conditioning problems yourself.

4 Common A/C Problems You May Be Able to Solve Yourself

The condenser is not running. The first thing to do is to check the power. A breaker may have tripped. Reset it and see if the condenser is working. If that does not work, check the thermostat. It may be set too high. Turn it down 5 degrees and see if the condenser turns on. If it does not, you need a professional.

The system is not cooling the house down to a comfortable level. Turn down the thermostat by 5 degrees and see if the house starts to get cooler. The evaporator may also be dirty. The evaporator is where the heat from the house gets dispelled outside. Clean off the evaporator and then run the system for a few hours. If neither works, bring in an air conditioning professional.

Everything is running, but the unit is not cooling at all. The solutions for this issue are the same for when the system is not cooling the house enough. Check the thermostat. If that does not work, check the evaporator coils for dirt and clean it. If neither works, you may have a faulty compressor or low level of A/C refrigerant. Either needs to be checked by a professional.

Unit shuts on and off repeatedly. This may also be accompanied by rising temperatures in the house. The likely culprit for this is a dirty condenser or a dirty evaporator. Clean both carefully and then let the system run for a few hours. If it keeps cycling on and off, you may have a bigger problem and need to call a professional.